Pass rate
76.9%
Around average — 3.1 pts ahead of the 73.8% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 545 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £28–£74
2000 BMW 728 MOT pass rate
- 2000
- typical 131,500 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
26.1% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2001 79.6% pass
- Avoid 2000 76.9% pass · this year
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 2.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 72.7%
- Typical mileage
- 132k mi
The 2000 BMW 728 MOT pass rate is 76.9% of its MOT tests — 3.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.7× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 14.8% of everything recorded on the 2000 BMW 728, against 5.5% nationally — 9.3 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 26.1%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 73.8% and this one manages 76.9% — 3.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 23% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a BMW 728? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2000 BMW 728 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.8%, so this figure is 3.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 72.7%. The median 2000 BMW 728 in this dataset had covered 131,500 mi.
98% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 76.5% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 77.4% of the time, April–September 76.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 4.40% of tests.
- 545 recorded tests behind this page.
- 76.9% overall pass rate, 72.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 728, the average is 78.4% — best year 2001 (79.6%), worst 2000 (76.9%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 545
- Typical mileage (median)
- 131,500 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 728
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 728 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (98% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 728
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 142 | 79.6% |
| East of England | 95 | 71.6% |
| West Midlands | 60 | 78.3% |
| North West | 48 | 75.0% |
| South West | 48 | 68.8% |
| East Midlands | 41 | 78.0% |
| Yorkshire | 37 | 78.4% |
| London | 32 | 84.4% |
| Wales | 21 | 81.0% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2000 728
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2000 728
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the suspension joints 4.4% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
-
Check the windscreen 2.4% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the brake pipes 2.2% of tests
“flexible brake hoses slightly chafed”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2000 728 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £28–£74 — and 23% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £28–£74
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 23%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 545 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the 728, side by side
2 model years on record, from 2000 to 2001. Across them the pass rate runs from 76.9% to 79.6% — a spread of 2.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 76.9%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2001 79.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2000 BMW 728 with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2000 cars with a similar record
- Toyota Corolla 76.7%
- Saab 9-3 76.6%
- Land Rover Discovery 75.7%
- Honda Civic 75.3%
- MG Mgf 75.0%
- Land Rover Defender 74.7%
Closest pass rates among 2000 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2000 BMW 728 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 1,339 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 357 | 26.10% | 20.89% | +5.21 |
| Suspension | 301 | 22.00% | 20.98% | +1.02 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 202 | 14.80% | 5.52% | +9.28 |
| Tyres | 139 | 10.20% | 19.76% | −9.56 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 101 | 7.40% | 12.21% | −4.81 |
| Steering | 66 | 4.80% | 2.57% | +2.23 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 56 | 4.10% | 5.57% | −1.47 |
| Visibility | 54 | 3.90% | 4.97% | −1.07 |
| Non-component advisories | 33 | 2.40% | 4.18% | −1.78 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 30 | 2.20% | 0.82% | +1.38 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 4.4% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.2% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.8% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.4% | £80–200 |
| Flexible brake hoses slightly chafed Brakes | Minor | 2.2% | £25–70 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.2% | £40–150 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.2% | £80–180 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 2.2% | £3–12 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.0% | £5–20 |
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 1.8% | £3–15 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 29.9% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 25.7% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 11.9% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 7.9% | £40–150 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 7.7% | £25–70 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 7.3% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 7 | 85.7% | 20,359 mi |
| 30-60k | 23 | 87.0% | 46,073 mi |
| 60-90k | 55 | 87.3% | 78,360 mi |
| 90-120k | 120 | 76.7% | 106,902 mi |
| 120k+ | 294 | 75.9% | 160,850 mi |
Source: 545 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2000 728 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2000 BMW 728?
76.9% of the 545 2000 BMW 728 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.8% for cars first used in 2000. First-attempt pass rate: 72.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2000 BMW 728?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (4.40%), ball joint excessively worn (4.22%), ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.75%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2000 BMW 728 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 85.7% of the time, falling to 75.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2000 BMW 728 in this dataset had covered 131,500 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2000 BMW 728?
Petrol: 76.5% pass rate across 533 tests. LPG: 91.7% pass rate across 12 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2000 BMW 728 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 77.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.